AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2006--St. David's Community Health Foundation (SDCHF) announced today that they have awarded $812,000 in grants to 12 organizations to help address growing mental health needs in Central Texas. This is the first time in SDCHF's history that funds have been awarded to the mental health sector.

The majority of the grants went to integrated mental health services in primary care settings and school-based mental health services. SDCHF has also set aside $20,000 to evaluate the results achieved with the awarded grant money.

"In the past, we have targeted most of our community funding to nonprofit clinics, agencies servicing older adults and dental care for school-aged children," said Dick Moeller, President and CEO of SDCHF. "Our new funding for mental health services is a strategic response to a serious public health need in our community. We are now focused on a much more holistic definition of health care."

Amid years of state cuts in mental health care funding, many people continue to be turned away for needed mental health care and services. Funding shortages have caused state institutions and nonprofit organizations to delay or limit access to mental health care services.

"We recognize that mental and physical health issues are often inseparable for the patient," said SDCHF's Director of Public Health Initiatives Genie Nyer. "A substantial portion of our funding is targeted to developing and evaluating programs for integrated mental and physical health services at several of the community's safety net clinics. Increasingly, these integrated services are becoming best practices for clinics to deliver comprehensive care to their patients."

"The announcement of grant funding for mental health services represents a momentous occasion for our Foundation," Moeller said. "Our mission has always been to increase access to health care in the Austin area."

"Communities In Schools serves children and youth throughout Central Texas to overcome challenges that interfere with their success in school. With the support of the St. David's Community Health Foundation, our agency will be able to meet the mental health needs of hundreds of young people who, in turn, will better reach their academic potential," said Suki Steinhauser, Interim Executive Director of Communities In Schools.

People's Community Clinic (PCC) is another grant recipient that, with these funds, will be able to implement an integrated behavioral health program. The goal is to incorporate mental health services into the Clinic's primary health care model.

"The St. David's Foundation grant will enable PCC to expand its behavioral health services in order to better meet the needs of our adult patients," said PCC's Executive Director Regina Rogoff. "We are very grateful to the Foundation for making it possible for us to integrate these additional services including psychological assessment, counseling and medications into the Clinic's comprehensive care model."

For more information on the mental health grants awarded by St. David's Community Health Foundation, visit www.sdchf.org.